I feel you are really manipulating the reality of the business relationship not only business wise but power wise, but before I write an essay on everything wrong with that assesment can you explain to me how Snider is Bettman's boss? Maybe I overlooked something.

I feel you are really manipulating the reality of the business relationship not only business wise but power wise, but before I write an essay on everything wrong with that assesment can you explain to me how Snider is Bettman's boss? Maybe I overlooked something.

Every owner is Bettman's boss.

And last time I checked Snider is head of the board of governors, therefore he has alot of power in the NHL.

i say they match and see what they can get in a trade. those 1st rounders will not be top ten picks anyways.

Those 1st round picks won't be - but Nashville' own 1st round picks will be guaranteed top 10 picks without Weber. Add that with those late four 1st round picks up their sleeves, Nashville could easily move up each year to pick in the top 5 to grab potential superstars to re-build around, or use those 1st round picks to grab players at the deadline.

I was wrong. The new rules for contract cap circumvention were made public. They were not kept privately between the teams and the league head office so remove your tinfoil hats.Any new long term contracts since Kovy's have come under these new rules.

Here are the new rules that were implemented in Sept 2010:= "We're pleased to be able to establish bright line rules for these contracts going forward and are happy we can turn the page on existing contracts so we're looking forward, not backward," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com. "From start to finish of the process the Players' Association was responsive, interested and shared our objective to create certainty in this area."

The NHLPA released a statement from Roland Lee, Director of Salary Cap/Marketplace & Associate Counsel for the NHLPA:"We are pleased to finalize an agreement which ends the League's circumvention investigations and also establishes rules on long-term contracts that will provide players, their certified agents and general managers clarity for the negotiation of new contracts," Lee said. "Turning the page on this process is something that will benefit all parties involved."

The agreement includes two major regulations that go into effect immediately and will be a part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement until its expiration on Sept. 15, 2012. If there is no CBA at the start of the 2012-13 NHL season, the rules will be grandfathered until a new CBA is negotiated:

1. While players and clubs can continue to negotiate long-term contracts (five years or longer) that include contract years in a player's 40s, for purposes of salary-cap calculation the contract will effectively be cut off in the year of the contract in which the player turns 41.This basically means that if a 33-year-old player signs an eight-year contract, the amount owed to him in the first seven years of the contract will be averaged for the purposes of salary-cap computation. Then, in Year 8 of the contract, the salary he will make for that particular season will determine his salary-cap hit for that season.

So, if Kovalchuk's contract applied to this rule, the average of what he's owed in the first 13 years would be applied to the Devils salary cap from 2010-2023 and the cap hit would be $7.15 million because he is reportedly due to make $93 million across that span. Then, per the reported terms, the cap hit would change to $3 million in 2023-24 (as Kovalchuk turns 41 in April of that season) and $4 million in 2024-25.

2. In any long-term contract that averages more than $5.75 million for the three highest-compensation seasons, the cap charge will be a minimum of $1 million for every season in which the player is 36-39 years of age. That $1 million value will then be used to determine the salary cap hit for the entire contract. If the contract takes the player into his 40s, the previous rule goes into effect.

For example, Savard's contract reportedly calls for him to make $525,000 per season in the final two years of his seven-year, $28 million deal. He will be 38 and 39 in those seasons. If his contract was subject to these new regulations, for purposes of calculating the salary cap the final two years on his deal will reflect as if he was making $1 million. That would make his reported $4 million cap hit go up to $4.14 million.The club and player still can agree to a contract that pays a player less than $1 million when he is at those ages, but for salary-cap purposes the number applied to the team's annual average salary will be $1 million.The regulations are designed to keep diveback numbers in contracts to a minimum. =

What?!No love for my research skills?I'm sure this will save a few of you $20 a year in tinfoil for your heads.

I feel like the bruce willis character in The Sixth Sense.All of a sudden no one can see me or my posts.

What?!No love for my research skills?I'm sure this will save a few of you $20 a year in tinfoil for your heads.

I feel like the bruce willis character in The Sixth Sense.All of a sudden no one can see me or my posts.

I see dead conspiracy theories.

I appreciate your posts; you show respect, add excellent content, and use proper English, which leads to great reading.

You were also alone in responding to my question about when the NHL reviews the contract/offer.

[Plus Bobby Orr is the greatest player to ever play the game and the reason Boston was my second favorite team until we met in the Final.]

To get back on track here, I feel that Nashville will match the offer but am unsure the NHL will allow the contract.I think it makes a big difference for Nashville to know this before deciding whether or not to match.Does anyone know whether the league will rule before the offer deadline?